Saifai Mahotsav imposes heavy burden on Uttar Pradesh exchequer.
Lucknow: The 'Saifai Mahotsav' that has been attracting flak from one and all, has also incurred a heavy burden on the state exchequer.'
While the cultural department has spent Rs 1 crore on the festival, other government departments have also made their “contributions” to the festival.
The organisers of the event claim that all the film and TV stars who performed at the carnival did not charge a penny even though it was not a charitable event.
Read more: Under fire, actors ‘donate’ Rs 25 lakh
An event management company that took care of the Bollywood participation in the carnival, admitted that the star performers were paid a hefty sum. On condition of anonymity, a member of the event management group said that while Salman Khan was paid a sum of Rs 3.5 crores, Madhuri Dixit Nene was paid Rs 1.5 crore for her performance.
“Stars such as Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Soha Ali Khan and Huma Qureshi were paid amounts between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 40 lakh, depending on their star value. Kapil Sharma (TV show host) was paid Rs 20 lakh. The staff and entourage of the stars (make-up and hair artists) were also paid their fees.”
Seven charter flights were arranged to bring and drop back the stars from Mumbai and five star arrangements had been made for their overnight stay.
( Source : dc correspondent )
Next Story
